Post #401642 by DJ Terence Gunn on Sat, Aug 16, 2008 9:59 AM

The bar opened in 1953. The building the tiny bar was located in was sold by the landlord -- an Italian ex-Mafia from Chicago -- in 1960; and as the owners, Knute Stiles and Leo Krikorian, didn't have a lease, the bar closed.

It could be possible that the man/men in the photos may have been connected in some way, or knew some, or even were some, of the famous Beat poets of the 1950s. Then again, maybe not.

In any case, that photo is really something else! That was THE PLACE, literally, for the Beats of San Francisco to meet. (The other was Vesuvios.) I bet one would be hard-pressed to find many photos of 'The Place' now-a-days, without going through some kind of photo compendium or film footage of the Beat life in San Francisco. And it is far more interesting than some little rinky-dink Tiki bar! Wow!

Perhaps now we should do some sleuthing to find out who the man and men are in the photos? 'Course, that really could be a waste of time. Comparing photos of some of the more popular Beat poets of the 1950s with these chaps may be a quick way to at least realise or eliminate the possibility.